The nuclear submarine has the potential for deadly attacks (Picture: AP)

Russia has ramped up its threats of World War III,launching a new nuclear submarine with terrifying capabilities.

The massive Khabarovsk submarine is equipped to fire Vladimir Putin’s Poseidon nuclear drone at coastlines around the world.

The submarine’s launch – which comes five years late after repeated but unexplained delays – was in Severodvinsk in Russia’s far north, observed by defence minister Andrei Belousov.

‘The heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Khabarovsk is being launched from the renowned Sevmash shipyard,’ he said.

Belousov added: ‘Carrying underwater weapons and robotic systems,it will enable us to successfully secure Russia’s maritime borders and protect its national interests in various parts of the world’s oceans.’

Putin’s propaganda mouthpieces have repeatedly claimed that the submarine could ‘sink’ Britain underneath ‘radioactive tidal waves’.

The Poseidon nuclear-capable missiles could be devastating (Picture: Reuters)

The submarine’s nuclear reactor and other technical specifications remain opaque and are classified as top secret.

Putin previously said that the Poseidon nuclear-powered drone – capable of carrying an atomic warhead – had been successfully tested.

The Khabarovsk submarine is designed to carry a dozen of the deadly new-style torpedoes powered by its own nuclear reactors.  

‘The power of the Poseidon far exceeds that of our most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile,the Sarmat [aka Satan-2],’ said Putin.

‘There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. There are no means of intercepting it.’

The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile was tested in 2022 (Picture: AP)

Just days ago,Russia released a video of the Poseidon missile,which it said was ‘practically indestructible’.

Both US and Russian officials have described Poseidon as an entirely new category of retaliatory weapon.

They have said it is capable of triggering radioactive seawater swells to render entire coastal cities uninhabitable.

Putin also claimed the power of the Poseidon exceeded the 35-metre-long Sarmat intercontinental missile,which has been referred to in past reporting by various media outlets in and outside of Russia as ‘Satan II’.